I just saw these on an FM FB post, don't know if they're a new product or been out a while.... anyone running them yet?

Flyin' Miata spherical control arm bushing kit

 

You didn't look at post 18 Tip 69. It was a joke about V8R's communication. (The joke is spot on, they take forever to respond to anything. Carrier pigeon maybe faster than any other way to contact them.)

That said, the entire post isn't a bad idea to read either. I've purchased into the 5 figures worth of items from V8R. Every single item except the frame rails needed to be modified in some way to work. I'm glad V8R exists, since they sell items nobody else makes or sells and being a small boutique seller can't be easy. Still, can't hurt to know what you are getting into. Unfortunately, I don't know your answer, but I would definitely wait to hear back from Shandelle. That's the sort of thing that you would think should follow the stock size and ends up not being.

 

oh sorry, i didnt email V8R, i emailed sadfab, and have yet to hear a response. i just need to know what all is available for the V8R arms, i never was a fan of the stiction in stock urethane bushing kits.

**Edit**
I got in contact with Sean and he is great to work with. Thanks Sean!

 

I'm looking into swapping my FLCA-F poly/bronze bushing for a delrin replacement. After 27,000 miles and many track days, it has finally suffered the same fate as many poly/bronze bushings in this location.



I've got a machinist friend that can crank out some parts for me pretty quickly. I'll use the linked SADfab dimension below:

SADfab Miata Delrin Bushings dimensions - Google Sheets

Now for the question:​​​​​​​

Outside of racing class specific rulesets, is there any reason I should NOT consider using a slightly larger steel bushing sleeve than SADfab lists? Say, 1" instead of 0.875"? I'd like to be able to use whatever reasonably priced stainless steel my friend has on hand.

I may be overthinking this due to remembering concerns about the clamp loading on the smaller OD sleeves needed for the 863 poly/bronze bushing setup.

 

You know, I've read this thread probably a dozen times, but sometimes you learn only when you're looking for a specific tidbit.

 

Anyone running the new FM kit?

https://flyinmiata.com/products/na-n...43907328540927

 

I have run sealed spherical bearings in aftermarket UCA's and they had way too much friction. It was crazy like 20-30lbs of force to move the arm with two bearings in it. Not the same as spherical rod end control arms which are free moving. I do not know about the FM kit. For that price I would hope it is not like the bearings in the aftermarket UCA that I have.

 

It uses tiny tiny set screws to hold the sleeve in place...

HARD PASS

About the only ones I would ever run would be Kieslers as his are held in with threaded ends that sandwich the control arm.

There was somebody else doing some and once you assembled(or they assembled, cant remember) the ends, similar to Kiesler, were tack welded in place so they couldnt move.

 

The SadFab RUCA-O? That was a low-load application, relatively. Pretty sure mine is now in the RGM, as the racecar's complete suspension was transferred across. I should have a look at them, that was a long time ago ...

 

I considered a few options for the FLCA-F spherical to replace my poly/bronze (including a sealed OEM option and the FM/VU Dev setup), but as I am not running an all out racecar, the risk vs reward is simply not there for me. I don't want to load a spherical bearing axially and don't want to deal with splitting the load equally across two zero compliance sphericals.

It's really unfortunate that Mazda made all bushings coaxial (fore/aft) with braking and accelerating loads. Making even just the FLCA-F location a vertical bolted bushing would completely eliminate any concern of bushing slip.

 

Putting together a DIY bronze kit with Energy bushings and have a few questions about sleeve dims/tolerance. I can find 4130 tubing in sizes close to the Energy ID dims and have them cut to size to reduce machining costs, but the .500" ID sleeves would end up at .510". Dims from energy and dims of tubing below.

Would these sizes work or would I need a tighter ID on the .510" alignment bolt locations?

4130 Washer
Need 16 .875"x.500"x.1"
Material (7/8" .188 wall, .499ID)

4130 Sleeve
Need 6 .750”OD x .500”ID x 2.550”
Need 2 .750”OD x .500”ID x 2.155”
Material (3/4", .120 wall, .510"ID)

Need 4 .750”OD x .625”ID x 2.250"
Material (3/4" .065 wall .620"ID)

Need 4 .750”OD x .562"ID x 2.270”
Material (3/4", .095 wall .560"ID)

Need 4 .750”OD x .406”ID x 2.200”
Material (3/4", .188 wall .374"ID, needs bore to .406ID)

Need 2 .625”OD x .406”ID x 2.250”
Material (5/8", .120 wall .385"ID, needs bore to .406ID)

 

I would not reduce the size and clamp area of any alignment bolt location that is already heavily stressed. That's the whole reason the 4130 washers are needed - the clamp load on a smaller surface required to fit the bronze bushing would be getting into the range where it can damage the subframe ears. Having taken mine apart after 30k miles I do have some mushrooming of the end of the sleeves, just enough that the bronze bushings won't slide out but one direction. Mine are DIY out of 4140 pre-hardened steel, and I don't torque them to the extremely high level some people describe as needed to avoid bushing slip on their cars.

Additionally, every bit of slop you add between the alignment bolt and the sleeve is slop you'll have when doing adjustments. That's also extra slop that also could be an easy way for the bushing to slip without the adjuster bolt moving.

Not sure what you're buying, but unless you're buying something with the OD/ID extremely well controlled as a stated selling point of the product, I would not plan on using any as delivered surface of the bushing material you buy. Plan on cutting everything.

 

Thanks for the info, decided to have the 7/8" .499ID turned down to 3/4". OD on the material I purchased is too tight by a few thousandths on two sizes of the 3/4" tubing and will also need to be reduced.